MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND
MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING
INDUSTRIES (SHRI ARUN YADAV)
(a) & (b): No proposal has been received from Dr. Punjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth,
Akola seeking Rs.14 crore as an assistance to increase the production of fruits in
Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra.
(c) & (d): No, Madam. Maharashtra is the leading producer of oranges and the districts of
Akola, Nagpur, Amravati and Wardha of Vidarbha region are the major orange growing belts.
In order to address the issue of productivity decline in citrus crop, particularly in the Vidharbha region,
under National Horticulture Mission(NHM), a Technology Mission on Citrus (TMC) was launched during 2006-07.
The National Research Centre (NRC) for Citrus, Nagpur is the nodal agency for implementation of TMC. The
main components of TMC are production of disease free planting material of citrus, technology demonstration
and capacity building of citrus growers, extension personal and other stakeholders. The TMC has also been
extended to Marathwada region of Maharashtra during 2008-09 and Chhindwara regions of Madhya Pradesh during
2010-11. An amount of Rs. 10.76 crore has been provided for this purpose to NRCC, Nagpur during 2006-07 to
2010-11. Under the TMC, up to 2010-11, total 8.04 lakh disease free seedlings of citrus have been produced
and distributed to farmers.
